Xianyang No. 6 High School, Chinese exam room for the gaokao.
The air was as thick as congealing glue, and the fluorescent tubes overhead gave off a monotonous hum. Ying Xiao's eyes were fixed on his test paper. Every character in the archaic classical Chinese passage from The Annals of Lü Buwei seemed to dance, twisting as though mocking his comprehension.
“Why does the ruler above not follow the ways of the former kings? It is not that they were unworthy, but that their ways cannot be followed...” he murmured. His eyelids felt heavier and heavier, as if weighed down with lead. The consequences of cramming the historical timeline all night were catching up with him. The neat printed text on the exam gradually blurred and overlapped, until it finally became a dazzling field of white.
“No... I can't fall asleep...”
